I find more and more that most people don't really want a movie collection, they just want to watch movies. In fact, nowadays they're happy to watch them on the go. And for all those purposes, streaming fulfills their needs perfectly (fulfills my needs too, strictly from a short-term renting perspective).
I agree with you though; I prefer to have a huge collection, so I can watch my stuff with the gaurentee that the content will be readily available in a presentable quality. I even still collect CDs for the same reasons.
It seems to surprise most people when I tell them "yeah, I have a couple thousand movies;" it's like ungodly to them. But it's still just a trifle compared to other people, who could have as many as 5,000+ physical titles. For those people who find this incredible, I'll bet their idea of a "collection" is a select handful. I find it amusing.
How do you watch a film on the go? Walking to work/school? Isn't that dangerous?